5 new things we know about the Galaxy S8 thanks to the exploding Note 7

You can rest assured that the next Samsung device will be subjected to more scrutiny than ever; from rabid phone fans, media types like us and, most importantly, from Samsung itself.

Samsung’s President of Mobile Communications Business, DJ Koh, took to the stage over the weekend to explain what caused the Note 7 to catch fire (it was all the battery’s fault apparently), to apologise and (hopefully) close this rather damaging chapter in Samsung’s history.

But this press conference was also about moving on and reassuring phone buyers that the next Galaxy will be super hot without being a fire hazard, and a few little tidbits eeked out.

1) The Galaxy S8 will arrive later than expected

Samsung has typically headlined Mobile World Congress with the release of its new flagship phones, but that will not happen this year.

Presumably all of the literal and figurative fire-fighting the company has had to do around the Note 7 has pushed development of the S8 beyond MWC’s 27 February start date. All Mr Koh would say on the matter was that his team is currently working on a release schedule.

2) The Samsung phone you’ve already got is going to be just fine

The Note 7 was an unfortunate incident that’s fortunately isolated. Koh kept emphasizing the fact that every device’s battery is customised for that specific device, from the design to the manufacturing process.

As such, the rest of the Samsung line-up definitely isn’t affected. So you can stop eyeing your other Samsung devices with suspicion.

3) Your next Samsung phone won’t catch fire

This entire debacle has been enormously embarrassing for Samsung, so it comes as no surprise that making sure it doesn’t happen again is very much the priority.

To that end, the batteries of all future devices will be subject to far more thorough quality checks. Samsung has introduced what it’s calling the 8-Point Battery Safety Check, which includes everything from disassembly inspections to x-ray tests and large-scale charging and discharging tests to replicate real world usage.

In short, there should be no more nasty surprises.

4) The new checks go beyond batteries

Everything from software algorithms to hardware design will be examined more closely to prevent any other potential problems.

And if you think a company policing itself sounds like a bad idea, Samsung’s going a step further and is introducing a panel of external experts from the likes of the universities of Cambridge and Stanford, who will consult on future projects to help make sure nothing goes horribly wrong (again).

5) The Galaxy S8 will benefit from all of these new measures

When asked if the time between now and the next phone is too short for these new-fangled measures to be put in place, Koh clarified that they’re already implementing what they’ve learned, and will continue to improve on processes.

He shared that internal analysis was completed by the end of November (external investigations were concluded later) and as a result of it, they have the expertise and even facilities in place to make sure mistakes are never repeated. In fact, he says they’ll make the next phone even better.

Of course, time will tell whether that will actually be the case, but Samsung sure as heck wants to make sure its next phone is so good that it banishes the Note 7 from memory, and that could be great for us phone fans.

But what did we already know about the Galaxy S8?

Little bits of information about the Galaxy S8 have been leaking onto the internet for months now, and they point towards a phone that’s going to be worth getting excited about.

For a start, we’re expecting every Galaxy S8 to be curved, with no flat version being offered this year. We also hear that it will have no bezel at all, so the entire front face of the thing will be screen. Nice. That screen will apparently be 5.5in on the diagonal and have a 4K resolution, which would equate to a monstrous pixel density of 800 pixels-per-inch (ppi). Overkill? Probably. Awesome nonetheless? You betcha.

It’ll be more powerful than the S7, of course, with a SnapDragon 835 rumoured to be humming under the hood, but we’re also expecting Samsung to follow the path laid by Apple by ditching the headphone socket.

We’ll have to wait until the phone’s officially unveiled (which, as mentioned, won’t happen at MWC) before we get the full, confirmed specs, but if you want to be kept up to date between now and then, bookmark our Samsung Galaxy S8 preview.